The West Indies completed a one-day international series whitewash of Bangladesh on Thursday, securing a comeback four-wicket victory at Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis. The win was buoyed by a sensational debut performance from Amir Jangoo, who made the most of the opportunity in maroon. Jangoo was one of two debutants, with the other being seamer Jedidah Blades.
Having won the toss and electing to bowl first, the Windies began the game well, claiming two wickets in the powerplay. However, a dominant 136-run stand between Mehidy Hasan Miraz (77) and Soumya Sarkar (73) saw the visitors come back strongly. After Sarkar was given out via LBW off the bowling of Gudakesh Motie and Hasan was run out, the Bangladeshis found themselves in need of another stabilising partnership. Enter veteran Mahmudullah and Jaker Ali. The two middle-order batsmen put on an unbeaten 150-run stand, the highest sixth-wicket stand ever for the Tigers, propelling the visitors to an imposing 321-5.
If the West Indies were to conquer this total, they would have to break their own record, set earlier in the series, for the highest run chase completed at the venue. Their innings did not begin well, as they lost three wickets in the powerplay, including that of their captain Shai Hope. Similar to the Bangladeshi innings, a game-shifting 55-run partnership between Sherfane Rutherford and Keacy Carty got the Windies back on course.
After Rutherford fell, Carty continued to battle it out with Amir Jangoo. They put on 132 runs for the fifth wicket, before Carty fell agonisingly short of what would have been a well-deserved century. Jangoo, however, persevered. Batting with Gudakesh Motie, the wicketkeeper-batsman went on to secure an unbeaten debut century, finishing on 104. Motie further cemented his reputation as an all-rounder, playing impressively for his unbeaten 44 to seal the game for the Caribbean team.
Man of the match Jangoo recounted what was a joy-inspiring performance and stand with former West Indies Under-19 teammate Carty.
“It is surreal. It is an amazing feeling. A lot of hard work, finally paying off. Not sunk in yet, but it feels amazing. I just did not want to make a duck on debut. He is a close friend of mine and made it easy for me. He told me to enjoy my debut and that is what I did. It was a pretty good wicket.
“Our head coach gave us a clear path on how to score. Every 10 overs, we had our targets. I have had a lot of nineties in my career, just wanted to take in the adrenaline and see the ball, hit the ball.”
Sherfane Rutherford picked up man of the series honors.
The Men in Maroon will hope that this white-ball form continues into the T20 international series, which begins on Saturday at 8 pm in St Vincent & the Grenadines. This victory also sees the team end the year on a high, as they strive to make strides toward upcoming international tournaments.
